Corporate governance plays a key role in ensuring the quality of financial reporting and preventing frauds in financial reporting, as well as preventing all criminal acts that can be committed in a company. We are witnessing the turbulent and changing business environment that has hit the business world since 2019 with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of the current crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. All mentioned difficult and unforeseen circumstances have led to difficulties in doing business of companies that have to maintain business continuity, which significantly increases the risk of criminal activities. The paper deals with the role of corporate governance, external and internal auditors in preventing and detecting financial fraud in companies by analysing financial fraud at the global level in the period from 2018 to 2019. Empirical results indicate that the most frequently committed fraud is misappropriation of funds, while false financial reporting caused the greatest losses. The greatest role in the detection of criminal acts was played by anonymous reports, internal audit, detailed management review and external audit.